Brand new bike

Hello everyone, I bought a new SV Sport just before christmas, no complaints so far its been great to ride, the only thing catching me out is the engine braking I now find myself going into corners in too high a gear for fear of locking up the rear.
Any tips, or is it just a question of pracice makes perfect.
I would also like to hear from anyone who has bought a brand new Suzuki, did you get an AA membership card, and a label in the front of the warranty book to validate the warranty as I have had neither and the dealer just keeps saying he has to chase Suzuki - should i be concerned?

welcome to the madhouse

[Viney]

Originally Posted by hovi5

welcome to the madhouse

Stop being so helpful!!

Martin. Nice chocie of bike. The service book should have a label staing all the vitals of the bike. Colour, Frame number, engine size, and various other things. this somes with the bike and should be there, its not a 'thing' you get form suzuki. However, it may been an oversight and just keep on top of your dealer about it. As for the AA card. Wouldnt know. Id imagine that it will come though eventualy. i know that i got breakdown cover and all i got was a card (As in made of card) with a phone number on it for Suzuki assistance. I never used it as i had AA cover for the car. Again, just chase it up, but these things can take time especailly as we have just had the silly season!

Welcome to the site btw and get involved. Ignore hovis, thats really his bike in his avatar

I've had to call Suzuki Assist (and the AA man turned up) after fudging bolts. Figured I wouldn't need the card for a while, so didn't have it.

I called the dealership I got the bike from, asked them for the number, heypresto, bike sorted 45mins later.

All because I didn't have a hammer

Nice choice of bike, shame about the colour though. Welcome.

Originally Posted by Viney

Stop being so helpful!!

its a pointy????? the only advice i could have offered was.......sell it and get a curvey...& make sure its yellow


Welcome to the site btw and get involved. Ignore hovis, thats really his bike in his avatar

'ello

Clutch in, Blip the throttle, change gear, clutch out

This will raise the engine revs to more closely match the speed of the rear wheel, hence less chance of it locking up. Some higher spec bikes have a slipper clutch that enables you to change down a gear without the rear locking, but on the SV you'll have to do it the hard way

Takes some practice, but after a while it'll become second nature

Originally Posted by Mr Toad

Clutch in, Blip the throttle, change gear, clutch out

I was surprised to find, while thumbing through the owners manual yesterday that Suzuki actually recommend this procedure

Pete

I find the engine braking strong aswell; as im a new rider, i've been caught out with the rear wheel making life a bit squiggly in this horrible weather.

A few things that help me are not changing down gear too soon before a corner, but changing down before i tip in. Also, giving the throttle a "blip" before re-engaging the clutch on downshifts helps, as the engine speed is (roughly) matched to the wheel speed.

Not much else to recommend!

Happy riding

Matt

Or you can be horrendously clever and slip the clutch yourself...

Matt

Originally Posted by alpinestarhero

I find the engine braking strong aswell; as im a new rider, i've been caught out with the rear wheel making life a bit squiggly in this horrible weather.

I find the engine braking useful if anything, and it takes me some time to adjust to other bikes that don't have it.

Yea I've had the rear lock up just because of downshifting, but that was my own stupidity. Concentrating on a 'tard I'd passed around 700yds back, going round a roundabout in the wet & not thinking about what I was doing. 25-ish mph into first, mid bend. Oh dear But recovered it nicely & kicked myself a few times for letting the 'tard affect my ride.

T'is all experience at the end of the day, so long as it doesn't kill you, and then you don't get to see the end of the day. Profound, eh?